CHICOPEE, Mass. — Making sure breakfast is accessible for students throughout the commonwealth has been a challenge for many school districts, including those in Western Mass.

A recent study by the Eos Foundation showed free breakfast participation in the state dropped from 58% in 2019 to 48% for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

"The problem is, while kids are at school at lunch, they aren't at school during breakfast," Andrea Silbert, president of the Eos Foundation, said. "They have to come early, so you would see lunch participation rates in areas like Chicopee and Springfield at 80% but then you'd see breakfast at 20% or 30%."

A private philanthropic foundation, Eos works with the state's school districts to help alleviate hunger for kids through grants and other forms of outreach. 

The Chicopee school district was one of dozens in the report to have 60% or more students who qualify for free breakfast.

Eos said the city has made significant progress in recent years ranking second in average breakfast participation among school districts in high-poverty areas.

"Chicopee has really embraced this and [is] currently in the whole district wide," she said. "Seventy seven percent of kids are eating breakfast at school, which is terrific. They could take it is high as 85% maybe higher."

According to Eos, breakfast is especially important for high school students and the lack of a morning meal can have a large impact on their ability to learn.

"The high schoolers are typically going to school way too early the way schedules are and without breakfast," she said. "I know having had high schoolers myself, they stumble out of bed -that's all they can do, and they're not hungry at 7 a.m."

Eos said Springfield, who ranked first in average breakfast attendance at 81%, has made drastic improvements over the years.

One way Chicopee and other districts in Western Mass can improve even more is by adopting an "after the bell" approach similar to what Springfield has done, according to Eos.

"They said they were going to change the schedule so every kid instead of going to different blocks A block and B block or a different class," she said. "They would show up for their homeroom or they call it an advisory for 10 minutes and they would get their breakfast and then they would go on about their day."

Eos suggests other school districts in the state evaluate using kiosks to supply students with breakfast as well.